Gough's Cave

Gough’s Cave lies in Cheddar Gorge, a deep limestone cleft in the Mendip Hills of Somerset. The cave’s entrance opens into a high-roofed chamber where the Cheddar Yeo, Britain’s largest underground river, flows through. Beyond the first chambers the show cave stretches for 820 metres, lit by electric lights installed in 1899. Diamond Chamber marks the end of the public route, reached after Richard Cox Gough opened further sections between 1892 and 1898. Flooding sometimes closes parts of the cave for days, as it did for three days in 1968. Divers have explored submerged passages that begin near the tourist route and lead deeper into the hillside. The cave is famous for its Ice Age archaeology. Around 14,700 years ago Magdalenian people used the cave, leaving bones that show signs of butchery and skull cups made from human crania. Tools of reindeer antler and mammoth ivory, including a perforated baton, were found among the remains. In 1903 the skeleton of Cheddar Man was discovered inside the cave; dated to about 10,300 years ago, it is Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton. Genetic studies suggest he had dark curly hair and very dark skin, and belonged to the Western Hunter-Gatherer population. Visitors walk along a lit path past stalactites and flowstone formations to Diamond Chamber. The river can be heard beneath metal grilles in the floor, and signs explain the Magdalenian finds. Replicas of skull cups and tools are displayed near the entrance. Beyond the show cave, cave divers enter tight passages such as Dire Straits to reach flooded tunnels explored in the 1980s and 1990s. These lead to chambers like Bishop’s Palace, the largest known in the Cheddar cave system, filled with boulders and still partly unmapped.